Mobile data-only operator Rain and Nokia today announced the launch of the first commercial-ready 5G network in Cape Town, following the deployment of the first 5G site last November.
The announcement, made at Mobile World Congress 2019 in Barcelona today, follows yesterday's news of a similar partnership between Rain and Huawei.
The companies said they have agreed to collaborate on deploying the 5G network with Nokia's end-to-end 5G solution, including optical fronthaul transport products and its Fixed Wireless Access FastMile 5G Gateway, a home solution that brings high speeds to homes using 3GPP-compliant 5G New Radio.
The rollout will continue through 2020 to extend the network to more areas, the companies said. Later this year, the network will also support a variety of 5G use cases when commercial 5G end-user devices become available. This initiative paves the way for the introduction of 5G services in the entire country.
Willem Roos, CEO of Rain, said: "Together with Nokia, we are busy building this country's first 5G network within a challenging time frame to advance the rollout of 5G services.
"Nokia is at the forefront of 5G technology globally and based on our experience, we are confident its end-to-end innovative products and world-class professional services will help us bring the best possible 5G network to the people of South Africa."
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